Edger



A. MEREEN:

EDGER. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 12, 1920.

Patented il'uly 11, 1922..

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

A. MEREEN.

EDGER. APPLICATION FILED OCT. I2, 1920.

Patented July H, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- nne mnnnnn, on BEnKnnn ,oeL1ronn IA.

Ens gn.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARNo MnREnN, a citimed-a, in the State of 'California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Edgers, of-which the following is a specificatiom'reference being had to the accompanymg drawmgs.

My invention relates to machines known in the art of lumber manufacture under the generic name of edgers, and has forits object the production of anew machine of that class embodying a band-saw for dividing boards transversely into strips of uniform width.

The name appropriated by me to my machine, and which is, in general terms, distinctive of it, is a horizontal band-saw edger.

A general object of my invention is to promote economy of time, material, and labor in the edging or ripping of lumber. Another object is tojprovidemeans for effecting substantial uniformity in the manufacture of edging material, whereby such' material may be accurately standardized in respect to width, with large economy in practice.

' A further object of my invention is to reduce the waste of stock, due to the cut of the saw, to a minimum. That this could be. accomplished theoretically by the use of a thin band-saw was obvious, but practi cally it could not be done to economical ad vantage, because the cut of such a saw is limited to a length ofcut within which the saw I in its travel will clear itself without choking. This difliculty, for one thing, is overcome by my invention and the capacity of the band-saw indefinitely amplified by providing a succession of separated feed-boxes which independently present their respective feed material to one saw, thereby affording a clearance to the saw between the boxes, which, by offering a clean section of the saw blade to the material in each separate feed-box, affords effectual insurance against choking of the saw blade in its work, irrespective, substantially, "of the number of boxes which may be embodied in a machine. Other advantages, the attainment of which is included within the objects of my invention, will be apparent to those skilled in the art. w

What constitutes my invention will be Specification of Lettersiatenti Patented July 11, Application filed October 12 192Q. Serial No. 416,350.

hereinafter specified in detail and succinctly set'forth in: the appended claims.

In the achoinpanying: drawings, which are intended to afford, in effectfsubstantially dia 'rammatic illustrationofmy invention,

igu're Iisa vertical section onthe-line 1-1 of Figure II, looking in the direction indicated in the latter hy arrows.

Figure I1 is a top plan view of my machine incom lete form of embodiment.

Figure III is a section on thelineJIII -III of Figure I, lookingfromiright to left, as indicated by arrows.

t .g.- i on n enlarged scale of a'portion of thesubject matter'of Figure III, showing a piece of material in process of" being rip ed by iny machine into strips of unequal widths, as indicated by the partially formed dividing. kerf between Referring tothe numerals on the drawings", 1 indicates a floor','table, or plate made of any suitable material, dimensions, weight andstiffness that may be preferred. "Upon said plate, as indicated in* Figure I, I provide a pair of pillowblocksQ"and? thatare in service rigidly secured to their support= mg member 1, the pillow blocks beingpreferably disposed in pairs, as illustrated in Figure II. The block'sQ carry, in true parallel relationship to'theplate 1, a rotative shaft 5. In like manner, the blocks 3' carry a, shaft 6, correspondingto the shaft 5. Either of the shafts5 or" 6 may he a driving shaft and the other a driven shaft. The shaft 5, being the driving shaft as shown in thedrawings, is provided with a belt pulley 7 for the application of power in the usual way. To "the shafts 5 and 6, respec- 'tively, are securedbahd-saw pulleys 8 and 9 which are mounted in true co-operative relationship 'onetoward's the other for the operative accommodation upon' their respective peripheries of a band-saw 10. The bandsaw is stretched taut upon the said pulleys which are preferably made relatively adjustable in any usual manner for the purpose-of keeping the band sawtaut, at due tension upon it. The upper stretch 11 ofthe bandsaw ismade the working portion of the saw. The saw 10 is preferably of as thin a gauge as may be employed to do its work of cutting, so as to effect the least waste of material in operation.

At right angles to the respective shafts 5 and 6 is provided a main drive shaft 12 car- I24 secured to the top of the plate 1. The

requlres. Four conveyors 17 18, 19 and 20,

is the number shown in the drawings, and

the number of grooves in the roller 16 corresponds therewith. Y

. Above the plate 1, in parallel relationship to the shaft 12, I provide two shafts 21 and 22 carried in respective pillow blocks 23 and shaft 22 carries a succession of grooved pulleys 26, 27, 28 and 29, that are in co-operative alignment with a corresponding succession of grooved pulleys 30, 31, 32, and

-33, upon the shaft 21, and also with the grooved pulley 16 or pulleys upon the shaft .12, as described. It isbecause the pulleys upon the-shaft 12 may be of uniform diam eter, unlike those upon the shafts 21 and 22,

' respectively, which are preferably of differ- 30 ent diameters, that I prefer to employthe grooved roller construction 16, as above described. If preferred, instead of the grooved roller 16, a succession of separate pulleys upon the shaft 12 may obviously be em-' I saw, and also with substantlally perfect uniformity of width in the different sizes of ployed.

The flexible conveyors above indicated, be-

sides passing around and in operative engagement with the pulleys upon the respec-. tive shafts 21. 22, and 12, preferably pass around a series of pulleys 35, 36, 37, and38,

mounted, for example, upon a shaft 40 .carried in hangers 41 and 42 secured to the bottom ofthe plate 1 as shown in Figures I and.

III. In reaching from the pulleys upon the,

shaft 12 to those upon the shaft 40, and

(thence to those upon the shaft 21, the flexible conveyors aforementioned pass below the plate 1 through openings therein provided for their accommodation. The shaft '40 with its pulleys mounted below the plate 1 is provided as a means for adjusting the tension of the aforesaid conveyors, and to that'end the hangers 41 and 42 may be made adjustable upon the plate 1, although adjustment of the pillow blocks. 13 and 14 might be provided to like effect.

The pulleys 35 to 38, inclusive, are also designed and adapted to dispose of the sag of the flexible conveyors, which they carry,

below the lower reach of the saw 10, as

1 shown in Figures I and III, for example, so

that the travel, respectively, of the con- V veyors and of the saw may be effected without interference of the onewith the other;

The conveyors 17 to 20, inclusive, are representative of any suitable feeding mechanism' of any ty'pe preferred for conveying the material to be cut to the saw, and may be of any suitable andpreferred type, such,

.whose necessary thickness has demanded an excessive width of kerf with consequent waste of the stock or material to be sawed. An additional objection to the use of circular saws in edging machines as heretofore constructed, has been the necessity of adjustment of the saw to its Work or of the workto its saw in order to effect a desired output. The result has been that, in such case, the personal equation of the operator determines the output of the machine, and

that it has been practically impossible to attempt accurate standardization of widths in edging material. By my invention both of the objectionable factors above referred to are eliminated, and economical manufacture of thestock into desired widths is accomphshed, partly by a large proportionate gain in the width of the kerf made by the stock out by the machine. In respect to meansfor effecting the end just referred to, it is now in order to specify that eachof the endless flexible conveyors a floor 45 "(compare Figures I and III)'of a relatively narrow, elongated feed-box provided for it. Each feed-box comprises, besides the floor 45, opposite, parallel, vertical side-walls 46 and 47. ,Each of'the feedboXes is accurately aligned with the endless conveyor to which it is appropriated, and

the floor 45thereof should be in substantially true tangential relationship to the peripheries of the pulleys upon the shafts 21 and 22, respectively, about which said conveyor travels. The complementary pairs of pulleys upon the shafts 21 and '22, respectively, being of unequal diameters, the endless conveyors accommodatedthereon, respectively, occupy different horizontal planes according to the respective diameters of said pairs of pulleys, and as clearly indicated in Figure III of the drawings. lVith this in mind, it will be obvious that if a board, or rectangular piece of lumber, of

sufficient width be set edgewise upon any one of the endless conveyors '1720, it will,

by the .travel of said conveyor, be carried" in the plane'of the conveyor and fed to the saw 10. It will further appear that the vertical distance between the saw and each conveyor is constant, and that, therefore, for each conveyor a uniform width of cut by the saw will be made. In Figure I, illustration is made in cross section of two boards 50 and 51 carried upon the conveyors 19 and 17 res )ectivel and as under 'oing 7 l y, g

the process of being severed into strips of different widths. From a study of that fig nice, it may be understood that a board may .-be passed successively through the machine upon the different conveyors, beginning with the one whose floor 45 is farthest removed from the saw, and ending with the one that is nearest to it, and that in that manner the board may be ripped into graduated widths of strips.

Each of the feed-boxes is designed to be of a width to accommodate either an ex treme width of board to" be sawed, or, a plurality of thinner board's set side by side upon the conveyor. To thisend one side of each box is provided with a yielding support or supports, for example fiat springs 52 and 53, that are adapted by their resillency to press against the side of a board and hold it in true alignment with the side of the box opposite to that which carries the springs.

The feed-boxes, as specified, areseparated one from the other by ample clearance space for the stretch 11 of the saw 10, so that the saw may clean itself of sawdust between each box. The width of the box is determinable by the width of cut which the saw may make without choking. It will also be apparent thata-ll the feed-boxes may operate simultaneously or separately and that the capacity of each box may be, if desired, adapted to accommodate at one time a number of boards set side by side in the box.

The stretch 11 of the saw is guided 'through the feed-boxes by a succession of guide-jaws 55 and 56 which may be of any usual or preferred type, such as illustrated, for example, in Figure 111, and of which as many as one pair for each box if preferred may be provided. b

The feed-boxes, already described, terminate in close or operative proximity to the cutting edge of the saw, as shown in Figure 111, for example. At a suitable short space behind the stretch ll of the saw is provided a succession of boxes 57, 58, 59'. and 60 (compare Figures II and III). The boxes last named may be designated deliveryboxes as contradistinguished from the feedboxes already descrlbed, with which, respectively, they are in accurate alignment. The

width the machine is adapted to cut.

delivery-boxes afford means for carrying the ripped stock through the machine, and for discharging it by rotation of the respective pulleys upon the shaftQQ. y

in Figure IV, 1 illustrate in side elevation a board 50, in its passage through a pair of feed and delivery boxes, showing the sawstretch 11 at work to sever a gauged strip 61 from the board 50 by the cutting of a kerf 62.

For the sake of clearness, it is repeated that the drawings are in a measure diagrammatical. For that reason mechanical supporting elements for the feed and delivery 'boxes are not illustrated, but are, of course,

the direction offthe arrows in Figure I1.

Stock to be sawed is then supplied to one or more of the feed-boxes, as shown, for example,'i1i Figure '1; The operating machine continues to do its work so long as any of the boxes are kept supplied with stock, which may be derived from a supply of new stock or from repeated sawings of material discharged from the delivery boxes until all of the stock is reduced to the minimum In this connection it may be observed that by using a board 50, for example, of calculated maximum width, with allowance made for kerfage, the board may be ripped with substantial accuracy and without any unnecessary waste into strips of desired widths.

It is proper to add that, in order to accomplish my invention, conveyors, boxes, and driving mechanism, combined substantially as specified, may be used in connection with any suitable or standard make of horizontal bandsaw.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a band saw having a horizontal cutting run, a plurality of substantially parallel spaced endless conveyors having a path of travel beneath and substantially at right angles to said band saw, a plurality of coaxial pulleys mounted on a common shaft on each side of said band saw and traversed by said conveyors, the pulleys on the same side of the saw being of different diameters and the aligned pulleys on opposite sides being. of corresponding diameters, a plurality of elongated trough-like feed boxes on one side of said band saw through which said conveyors pass, and a plurality of elongated troughlike receiving boxes on the other side of said band saws through which the conveyors pass, the receiving boxes being in alignment with the feed boxes, said feed boxes being disposed in substantially tangential relation to the pulleys on the same side of the band saw and having their bottoms in distinct horizontal planes. p

2. In a device of the class described, a band saw having a horizontal cutting run, a plurality of substantially parallel spaced endless conveyors having a path of travel beneath and substantially at right angles to 7 said band saW, -a plurality of co-axial pulleys mounted on a common shaft on one side of said band saw andtraversed by said cn-.

-veyors, a corresponding number of co-axial pulleys on the opposite. side of said band saw traversed by said conveyors, the pulleys on the same side of the saw being of ditferent diameters and the aligned pulleys on oppositesides being of corresponding diameters, a plurality of feed boxes on one side of said saw through which the conveyors pass, and a plurality of receivingboxes on the otherside of the band saws through which the conveyors pass, said conveyors having their runs beneath the saw in different horizontal planes. 7 V 3. In a device of the class'described, a

band saw having a horizontal cutting run, a plurality of substantially parallel spaced endless conveyors having a-jpath of travel beneath and substantially at right angles to said band saw, a plurality of co-axial pulleys mounted on a common shaft on one side of said band saw and traversed by said conveyors, a corresponding number of co-axial pulleys on the opposite side of said band saw mounted on a common shaft and traversed by said conveyors, theipulleys on the same side of the saw being of difierent'diameters and the aligned pulleys on opposite sides being of corresponding diameters, a plurality of feed boxes on one side-of said saw through which the conveyors pass, and V witnesses. r

V ARNO MEREEN. Witnesses JOSEPH L. ATKINS, LEICESTER B. A'rKINs. 

